


Time and Kindness

by grainjew



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Genre: Gen, Linebeck vs Ciela: the endless verbal tennis match, POV Outsider, linebeck is a little bit terrified of link, not that he’ll ever admit it aloud, tetra of course is miss not appearing in this fic due to the ph plot being rude to her, why turn her to stone! i dont get it! you could have had her dialogue instead!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grainjew/pseuds/grainjew
Summary: or: Linebeck gets bullied by several floating balls of light into listening to a history lesson while Link just sort of stands there. Also, the wind blows.And, maybe worst of all, Linebeck had slowly come to the realization that he didn’t actually know anything about Link beyond the fact that he’d risk his life for that friend of his. He wore green, and a stupid hat, and could be caught sewing tears in the fabric of his tunic back together with a hand somewhere between messy and practiced. He smiled stupidly whenever he saw seagulls. Most people would probably call him a biddable child, but most people hadn’t seen him skewer a sea-octorok in one smooth strike.Anyways.
Relationships: Ciela & Link (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83





	Time and Kindness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [windyautistic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/windyautistic/gifts).



> disclaimer: i LOVE ciela. i love her SO much, i think she’s absolutely wonderful and a super fun character. linebeck does not! something something the author does not endorse the ciela opinions present in the narration of this fic
> 
> you don’t at all have to have read [my wind waker fics from last year](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1225838) to get this fic, but i just wanted to note that this is the same link as in those ones, touch aversion and loneliness and non-verbality and refusal to change his tunic and all!

Link was creepy.

That was why Linebeck was sneaking around his own ship like a damned raider, Link was creepy. The kid was honestly too good an asset to be true, and it wigged Linebeck out — the way he swung that sword around with all the skill and deadly precision of a master swordsman three times his age, his unflinching solidity in the face of the worst the world had to offer, how he never really seemed surprised to be talking to a god. He was, what, eleven? That was the age where you were stupid and clumsy and stabbed yourself if anyone was dumb enough to give you a sword. Not the age when you had a glare that could cow a geozard.

And besides, where’d he get off humoring Linebeck at his most selfish and unashamed? He hadn’t noticed at first, because Ciela — world’s most obnoxious winged creature, and Linebeck knew _seagulls_ — started shouting at him whenever he said _anything_ , but Link never actually argued. Not that the kid said much of anything ever, Linebeck swore he’d heard him say two words at _most_ their entire time sailing together, but the way he let himself get pushed around almost made Linebeck feel bad for doing the pushing.

And, maybe worst of all, Linebeck had slowly come to the realization that he didn’t actually know anything about Link beyond the fact that he’d risk his life for that friend of his. He wore green, and a stupid hat, and could be caught sewing tears in the fabric of his tunic back together with a hand somewhere between messy and practiced. He smiled stupidly whenever he saw seagulls. Most people would probably call him a biddable child, but most people hadn’t seen him skewer a sea-octorok in one smooth strike.

Anyways. 

Linebeck was on an information-gathering mission, because having such an unknown quality on his ship bothered him. Ocean King’s _innards,_ the kid could turn around and stab _him_ and Linebeck wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Not getting stabbed on treasure hunts was why he’d let Link and that damned fairy on board in the first place. He just hadn’t realized what a risky move it was. 

It had been obvious the kid was stupidly brave and stupidly driven from the moment they met, and Linebeck had just never questioned that. After all, what harm could an eleven year old do? Too late, Linebeck had realized he didn’t actually know the answer.

And the kid never talked to him. 

So he was sneaking around his own ship like a raider, eyes and ears out for anything he could get on Link. Diaries were right out — he’d already snooped in the tiny storage space they’d converted into Link’s cabin, and all Linebeck had found was a blanket, stashed rations, and stacks and stacks of charts and maps. Damn frugal, that kid. Maybe he talked more when he was just around the Spirits? Somehow, Linebeck doubted it, but it was worth a shot.

He slipped out from belowdecks and passed the stone girl in the main room, which he super was not a fan of. Sure, she was important or whatever, but did they have to _display_ her? That lifeless way she stared and stared and stared creeped him out, even if she was just a statue. But he was pretty sure that if he tried to move her Link would stab him, or something. So he just carefully didn’t look at her eyes as he went about his business, and only complained about her a little.

And— oh, _score._ Kid spotted. 

Link was up at the bow with the three Spirits, Leaf and Neri hovering above his head and Ciela ranging out front as a lookout. 

Linebeck ducked into a corner and started shamelessly eavesdropping.

"—worried about her," Leaf was saying. "She's still not fully herself."

Link sighted with his bow and shot a lone eyeball monster out of the sky. Good on the kid, wasting his own arrows instead of Linebeck’s cannonballs. Though how he managed to hit his target on a moving ship was something Linebeck wasn't sure he wanted the answer to.

“Me too,” said Neri with a sigh that had her dipping in the air. “Generally, all these things need is time and kindness, but perhaps…” She circled around Link’s head once. “Perhaps he who bore the Triforce of Courage may be able to do something for her we cannot?”

Link jerked his head towards her so sharply Linebeck flinched back, and made a bunch of gestures with his hands in that language he used instead of speaking. The Spirits understood it, because of course they did, but apparently Link would rather let Ciela talk for him than teach Linebeck. 

Anyways, what up Cylos’s golden nostrils was this Triforce thing? The only thing Linebeck could think of was those Triumph Forks treasure hunters had been after for generations (and that Linebeck had always _meant_ to go hunting until something else came up), but he also had ears, and Neri had definitely said _Triforce._

"I'm the Spirit of Wisdom, Link," said Neri, bobbing in the air and pulling Linebeck out of his thoughts. Right, he was eavesdropping. It wouldn’t do to get distracted. "I may not be at full power, but knowledge is my business."

"And power is mine," added Leaf. “It took me awhile to sort it out from the rest of your aura, but there’s a… _resonance,_ sort of. You held great power very recently. And if I look closer…” He spun around, one full turn, and then launched himself towards Neri. “Wait, Neri, does this mean we can actually talk about it now?”

A flash of yellow, and Ciela arrived with all the elegance of a bombshell. “Talk about what? What’re we talking about?”

“Link, actually,” said Leaf. “Neri, can we—?”

“Oh, cool!” said Ciela. “What about— Wait. Hey! Linebeck!" She ditched the other Spirits just as abruptly as she’d arrived to hover right in his face. "Eavesdropping is _rude,_ didn't you know that?" 

Linebeck stood up and brushed himself off. Of course _she'd_ be the one to catch him. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I was…” He paused, fishing. He hoped it looked dramatic. “Taking a nap!"

"Your lies get more obvious literally every time you open your mouth," said Ciela, all deadpan and flashing yellow like she was the world's authority on lying. "You were crouched behind a barrel with your head poking out. How can you defend yourself from that, huh!"

Linebeck snorted. "This is my ship, fluffball. I can do what I like on it."

Link was looking at them. He gestured fast and sharp at Neri, who buzzed in response.

“He has to learn sometime,” said Neri to Link. She zipped towards Linebeck and then back away. “Come join us, Linebeck. We were just having a history lesson.”

“We were?” said Ciela. 

“School? Bah!” said Linebeck. He turned to leave. He’d come here to gather information on Link, not relive being crammed into a classroom against his will. If the Spirits wanted to educate the kid, that was their business, but they didn’t have any right to drag Linebeck into it.

“Oh, no, captain cucco,” said Ciela, buzzing right in his face. “If you hate the idea, you’re _definitely_ staying right here.”

Linebeck _hmph_ ed and swatted at her. “You can’t order me around on my own ship!”

“I can and I will!” retorted Ciela. She dodged his hand and kept hovering in his face, like a large yellow mosquito that ate patience instead of blood.

Linebeck stepped towards the door belowdecks, which unfortunately did not get Ciela out of his line of sight. “Every time we talk, I wonder why I ever let you on board.”

“One wish from the Ocean King?” said Leaf, sparking red behind Ciela. “Come and listen to what you were going to hear anyways, _Captain._ ” The way Leaf pronounced his title was begrudging, but not _quite_ as sarcastic as Ciela made it sound. Damn, Linebeck’s standards had gotten low. 

“If I had a wish, I’d wish we didn’t need a boat…” muttered Ciela.

Linebeck sighed. Clearly, they weren’t going to let this go, for some unfathomable Spirit reason. Ciela he could get away with ignoring, but once the others got involved, he knew from experience they’d just make him wish _he’d_ been the one turned to stone until he conceded. And Link, the heartless child, would just ignore the whole thing to stare nostalgically at the seagulls or fuss with his (and Linebeck’s, thank you) sea charts or fiddle with that silver baton he kept up his sleeve and wouldn’t let Linebeck near. Or be so excited to see whatever was on the horizon he draped himself halfway over the rail at the bow, like that would actually help.

What Linebeck wouldn’t give for a crew who actually respected him. Those Spirits didn’t even _do_ anything helpful. Honestly!

“I’m only doing this as a favor to you,” hedged Linebeck, making his own defeated way to the bow. “This is just me being a nice guy! You should all be grateful, to know me. I mean, granting you favors like this, even though I have so many better things to be doing—”

“Oh, shut up,” said Ciela.

“Settle down,” said Neri. Linebeck opened his mouth to crow victory, but Neri beat him to it. “ _Both_ of you. Now, Link, would you please show Ciela the mark on your left hand?”

Obediently (like Linebeck said, anyone who hadn’t seen the way the kid handled weapons would peg him as a biddable child), Link brought his hand forward, palm facing down. Linebeck squinted, because everyone else was staring at it too and _not_ because he was curious, thank you, and was able to make out a faint birthmark in the shape of three triangles, edges unnaturally precise. The bottom right triangle was slightly darker than the rest. Weird, but so was everything else about Link, so Linebeck didn’t see why it was such an issue.

Apparently, Ciela disagreed — what a surprise — if her agitated flying was any indication. She circled around Neri. "I don't—" She ducked and darted over to Leaf. "I recognize that. I recognize that! There's something, a connection, but—” 

Link lifted an arm to gesture, eventually, making a face like he wasn’t sure what to do, but Neri said, “No, let her do it herself,” and he put it back down.

Ciela hovered above his marked hand, making that clicking, cricket-y noise that meant she was thinking. “There’s…” Click, click. This wasn’t even a history lesson. Linebeck considered leaving, but he supposed it _was_ technically gathering information. It was just slow and boring and he’d been bullied into it. “We’re, we’re— Link, we’re—” She jittered side to side, and then groaned, and dropped in the air. “ _Ughhhhhhhhhhh,_ it’s on the tip of my tongue!”

“Think, Ciela,” said Neri. “Where do you recognize that symbol from?”

Ciela thought. Linebeck knew this because she was clicking, and it was very distracting from his own thoughts, and meant that he couldn’t think to see if _he’d_ ever seen the symbol before. He didn’t _think_ he had, but… 

Well, anything to get a leg up on Ciela, if he was being honest. If he knew more than her, she couldn’t lord her knowledge over him.

"The Temple of the Ocean King!" she said finally, jolting upwards. "It's all over the walls! But that doesn't— That doesn’t explain—"

Neri flew over and brushed blue against yellow to stain Link’s outstretched hand green with light. “And what does it _represent?_ ”

Ciela detached herself from Neri and darted over to Leaf, then back, erratically. “Us! But. Not us. But— Us.” She moved close to Link’s hand — he’d rested it on the railing, because not even the kid could keep his arm just hanging in the air forever. Said, “Power, Wisdom, Courage.”

Neri made a loop in the air. 

“You remembered!” said Leaf. He hummed, a soft buzz that shook the bones.

Link smiled at Ciela, those wide eyes of his crinkling in the corners, and then drew his hands over his heart. 

Ciela trilled a high note and circled his head, then flew around Neri and Leaf. “I’m still… I’m still missing something, I think. A piece. Something— about how we’re connected. Link and I.”

A breath of silence, as Leaf’s hum dimmed.

Neri asked, "Do you remember the story of the Sky-Goddess and the Great Demon?"

Linebeck glanced around, because _he_ certainly didn't know any stories about a sky-goddess — he was a sailor, thank you, his concern was deities of sea and wind — and found Ciela and Leaf buzzing a negative as well, which _was_ surprising. Spirits were gods, weren’t they? Shouldn’t they know about the other gods? What kind of asinine divine politics… But Link frowned for a moment, deep in thought, and then nodded once, solemn like the world was ending.

“Link— Hero. The world has forgotten; I had not expected you to remember.”

Link made a series of gestures Linebeck couldn’t interpret — except for one that looked disconcertingly like stabbing — and then shrugged and made a face.

“Of course,” said Neri, because of course she understood perfectly. _Spirits._ The _worst_ passengers. “We’re very sorry for waiting to speak with you about all this. But we did not know how aware you were of your power and status, and there is… protocol we must observe, as creatures of divine origin aiding a mortal Hero. I thought it wise to wait.” 

Neri paused, and Linebeck watched Link, who suddenly seemed every bit his eleven years and not a day more more. Slowly, he nodded, looking slightly away from Neri, biting his lip. 

Linebeck fought down an irrational, horribly stupid impulse to pat him on the head. (Irrational because Linebeck did not _do_ affection for creepy stabby children or, actually, anyone, and horribly stupid because Link hated being touched with a passion people usually reserved for being terrified of geozards.)

Neri waited a moment more, and then swept a line of blue from Link to Ciela. “Ciela,” she said, and Ciela buzzed a _listening_ tone. “You and Link are both creatures of Farore, as I am a creature of Nayru and Leaf is of Din.” Link had his eyes closed. “But he is bound to the Sky-Goddess Hylia as we are bound to the Ocean King.”

“Oh,” said Ciela. Her voice was small. Distant, almost. If Linebeck had any idea what they were talking about, he would be gloating, but unfortunately the Spirits had _still_ not actually delivered on their history lesson.

Link tilted his head to the side and frowned a little, in a way even Linebeck could admit it was cute. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, and then made a face adjacent to confused.

Neri clicked a high note. “Not exactly the same!” she clarified, a little panicked. “It was a _comparison._ ”

“I was wondering,” said Leaf drily. He flashed red, a little. “Beyond Farore’s courage and the resonance of the Triforce, the power of two gods trails off his spirit. I don’t recognize either of them, but one binding is a blessing and the other is a curse. Nothing like our own situation.”

“Point taken,” said Neri.

“I don’t get it, then,” said Ciela. Her glow was small, and she was hovering above Link’s head. Link glanced up at her, and then seemed to shrink into himself until Linebeck almost wasn’t intimidated by him. “We’re both Courage, I get _that,_ but—”

“Are you getting to that history lesson this century or not?” interrupted Linebeck. “If not, I have important snoop— things, to be getting to. Things. Captainly things, that keep this ship afloat.”

“Didn’t realize you actually wanted to be here,” said Ciela, all sarcastic. Her glow surged back to brightness. Figures, that she gained power by tormenting him.

“I came over as a _favor,_ if you’ll remember,” said Linebeck. “To _you._ ”

"You're right," said Neri, and Linebeck blinked, and then grinned. If he had that wish right now he’d use it to record this moment to look back on forever. The Spirits, admitting _he_ was right! "We did promise you history lessons."

"Knowledge is power," agreed Leaf, with such exaggerated sagacity he had to be messing with _someone._

"You walk into things you want to avoid so often I almost feel sorry for you," said Ciela, because she was horrible. 

(She was also right, because now that he was using his brain and not gloating Linebeck had remembered that he absolutely did not want a history lesson, but mostly she was horrible.)

"Hmph," he said, instead of digging himself deeper.

"A long time ago," said Neri, "so long ago that even divine creatures such as ourselves only remember the story in fragments, the Sky-Goddess and the Great Demon walked endless land. And she was of Nayru, a creature of peoples and names and laws, and he was of Din, and carried within himself a test of might: but Din granted the Sky-Goddess power to contend with even one of her own, and Farore granted her courage to make even the most difficult of decisions. And so they warred, and the land shone with their shed blood, and the winds were drowned by the clash of their swords, and their footsteps rattled the bones of the earth, and their armies met and clashed and died.

“And one day, the Sky-Goddess won a reprieve, and trapped the Great Demon beneath the earth. But in her wisdom she realized that they were equals in every aspect, in power and in stature and in endurance, and their warring and their destruction would continue to eternity if she remained what she was. And so the blood-spattered Sky-Goddess who carried the name Hylia, feathered and draped and glorious in white and blue and silver, she put down her sword and she put down her name. She chose for herself a Hero, and bound him to her, and shed her divinity.

“Bound together, they were reborn together, and with the Sky-Goddess’s sword in the Hero’s hands they did what she could not do alone, and defeated the Great Demon together. But with the last of his strength and breath and power, the Great Demon twined his own binding into theirs, so that their conflict would continue to eternity.

“And so every twenty-seven generations, the Great Demon’s hatred takes form, and the Hero is born in answer, and the Sky-Goddess — her sword now the Hero’s sword — shapes the echoes of her divinity into arrows of light.”

The _SS Linebeck_ swayed gently under his feet. A seagull cried in the distance. Wind sang. Neri’s voice quieted to a gentle hum.

Linebeck said, “So what?”

“Ugh!” Ciela darted off Link’s head, where she had settled — tucked into the brim of Link’s cap — during the storytelling. She hovered in Linebeck’s face again, buzzing like a fly. “I don’t get it! I don’t get how you manage to be such a coward _and_ so disrespectful!”

“You didn’t even remember that story before Neri started,” retorted Linebeck, trying to swat at her. “Besides, that was a fairy tale, _still_ not a history lesson.”

“Well, I remember it _now,_ ” said Ciela. “And anyways, you’re being rude to Link, talking like that.”

“Why would I be being—” 

Linebeck looked down at Link, who was messing with that fancy silver baton he never let Lineback near, not even to look. He had on a face Linebeck sometimes caught him wearing while cleaning his sword, or while watching the seagulls, or while humming a song Linebeck had never heard, or while staring at the creepy stone girl. He was small, and quiet, and had a scar on one cheek that Linebeck hadn’t dared ask about. He leaned, just a little, into the wind.

“He’s that Hero, isn’t he,” said Linebeck, with a sort of flat, dreadful certainty. “From the story.”

“Correct,” said Neri. “Hylia’s chosen, who bore Courage to the end of an era.”

Linebeck realized, all of a sudden, that they'd been spending this entire time talking over Link's head like he wasn't even there. But Link was just standing placidly, looking entirely unperturbed now, like he was used to adults forgetting he existed. (Although, of course, calling Ciela an adult was a stretch of the greatest proportions.)

It was the same face, actually, that he wore when Linebeck demanded he do something dangerous, or stupid, or humiliating, so that Linebeck didn't have to. A sort of accepting tolerance. How was such a terrifying kid also such a pushover? How was such a pushover of a kid somehow be a legendary hero?

Link flew through a collection of gestures, and then tilted his head to the side. Linebeck thought he could recognize that tic: Link was confused.

Neri flew back and forth. Was that what fairy pacing looked like? “It is how I heard the story…” she said. “But I don’t understand the mortal experience of time all that well, to be perfectly honest with you, Link. Twenty-seven generations may not be an accurate—”

“‘Course it’s embellished,” interrupted Leaf. “You learned the story off the Ocean King, right?”

Neri made a tight circle. “Yes, I did.”

Leaf flew down to Link’s eye level. “His Majesty’s a born storyteller,” he explained. “He’ll make something up, if he finds it suits the legend, and it must have happened that he liked the shape of twenty-seven generations.” Link nodded, biting his lip. Linebeck thought that was entirely irresponsible, for the Ocean King who had lectured Linebeck about responsibility and honesty until Linebeck felt like his brain was going to mold. “So don’t worry about it — I’m sure that if there was some pattern to it, your Sky-Goddess would have told you.”

Link gestured sharply, and then stopped himself, and shrugged, and glanced past Linebeck to the door belowdecks. Leaf flew back up to join Neri, who grumbled at him. Ciela settled back onto Link’s hat. Linebeck felt distinctly ignored. Maybe if he just moved quietly, he could…

“There’s something else bothering you, Link,” said Ciela. Linebeck froze, as well as he could on a moving ship. Which meant, because the gods hated him, that he fell flat on his behind and yelped in surprise.

Link glanced his way and stepped towards him as if to help, although Linebeck had no idea how with how he thought he _could_ help with how much the kid hated being touched, but he stopped when Ciela said, “Oh, he’ll be fine, he deserves what’s coming to him anyways. Just…” She buzzed. “Leave him there. He’s had worse. What were you thinking about?”

Link paused, and glanced once, uncertainly, at Linebeck, and then shut his eyes and made a long slow sentence with his hands.

A breath of air. 

“Tell us about her,” said Ciela, unusually soft. “Maybe that’ll help with the missing. It helps me, with the remembering.”

Link started making halting gestures, all on and off and fidgeting with that baton. Wind gusted, off and on. The Spirits hovered closer to him, listening to his gestures with whatever fairies used to listen to gestures, because honestly Linebeck wasn’t sure they had ears. Or eyes. 

Ciela said something, but quietly enough that the wind and the sea drowned it out. 

Well, Linebeck could think about all that later. This was all getting mushy and personal and quite honestly (he was totally capable of being honest! to himself! sometimes!) he would rather spend time eating through his stash of Molidan olives and getting stared at by the creepy stone girl belowdecks than trying to accomodate for overly-touchy Spirits or decipher what Link was saying and whether Linebeck was in danger of getting stabbed. The kid had his hand on his sword right now, this was absolutely a legitimate concern.

Watching the group to make sure Ciela didn’t see him escaping (if she did she would totally end up dragging him back into the not-a-history-lesson), he crab-walked himself backwards and slipped himself through the creaky door belowdecks. Fairy tales, pah! Even if they were true, they weren’t _history._ At best, they were clues on where to find treasure, and the only treasure Neri had mentioned was the Sky-Goddess’s sword. And all that mention had done was make the kid look all grim and tragic. 

Linebeck didn’t get this whole Hero business — hadn’t the Spirits said something about Link being a hero chosen by the Ocean King the other day, too, apart from all this Sky-Goddess stuff? They absolutely had. _Gods._ Gods and their _politics._ This was why Linebeck didn’t bother with them. 

Linebeck didn’t get this whole Hero business, but Link obviously did, and intimately.

Linebeck didn’t get this whole Hero business, and Neri’s fairy tale was already losing its details in his memory, but he did get that that the kid had been involved in something big, and godly, and deadly, long before he ever met Linebeck or saw the Ghost Ship. It put a little context, to the precision of his sword, to his unflinchingness, to his fervor.

It put a little context, to how he stared at the horizon sometimes. 

Linebeck went to find his olives and decided he could get on just fine without knowing more.

**Author's Note:**

> spirits can understand all languages. even the ones you made up with your little sister and supplemented with idiosyncratic pirate hand signals. it's very convenient!


End file.
